Ore car



W. M. SHEEHAN ORE CAR Filed July 21. 1922 4-Sheets-Sheet 1 I N VEN TORMum/r N 5/554):

Cf 6P ATTORNEY July 19, 1927.

W. M. SHEEHAN ORE CAR Filed July 21. 1922 '4' Sheets-Sheet z [N VEN TORMum/I ff 5/55/7401 ATTORNEY July 19, 1927. 1,536,534

W. M.. SHEEHAN ORE CAR Filed July 21, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 ATTORNEYJulyv 1 1927' w. M. SHEEHAN ORE CAR 4 Sheets-Sheet Filed July 21. 1922[/v VEN TOR 0711/4 fl finer/m;

ATTORNEY Patented July 19, 1927.

UNITED STATES 1,636,534 PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM M. SHEEHLAN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO COMMONWEALTHSTEEL COMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

ORE CAR.

Application filed July .21,

Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved ore car.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view partly in vertical section of saidcar.

Figure 3 is an end elevational view.

Figure 4 is a partial vertical sectional view through the center of thecar.

Figure 5 is an end elevational view of one end of the car.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary plan view of one corner of the car.

This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in ore cars,-theobject being to construct a car of the character described so that itwill be cheap, strong and durable in service.

My improved ore car contemplates the utilization of a cast steelunderframe which forms the subject-matter of the companion applicationSerial No. 576,527, filed by me of even date herewith, which underframereadily adapts itself to the peculiar superstructure, doors, hopperdoors and. door perating mechanism illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings.

Various features of novelty reside in the arrangement and combinationsof the several parts herein described and afterward pointed out in theclaims.

In the drawings, the underframe is shown as a steel casting havinghorizontally disposed Webs 7 at each end constituting end platforms,these Webs being lightened by suitable openings and being provided with35 finishing faces upon which are secured knee braces 25 constitutingmounts for a part of the door operating mechanism. These'braces alsosupport and brace the end floor sheets of car.

26 indicates body corn-er posts in the form of angles which are securedto the corners of the underframe. 27 indicates body side posts and 32indicates body end posts extending upwardly parallel to the posts 26,these 45 posts being bridged at points intermediate their ends by rods28 constituting ladders. The upper ends of these posts are secured to acorner connection 29 to which is attached a connecting plate 30, (seeFigure 6), this 50 plate being provided with hand-hole openings, 30 forwell understood purposes. The outer edges of this plate are providedwith clearance recesses which permit the necessary hand clearance abouttop ladder mem-- bars. By this construction, all of the ladder 1922.Serial No. 576,526.

membersof each group can be placed in substantially the same verticalplane, and side rods 28 are substantially flush with the sides of thecar and end rods 28 do not project lateral dimension for capacity ofinside of car instead of having the ladders limit this capacity.

32 indicates intermediate end posts secured by suitable connectionplates 33 to the horizontal webs 7 of the underframe. 34 indicates theend hopper wall curved as shown in Figures 1, 2, and 6, said wall beingconnected at itslower edge by suitable rivets to the inclined hopperwall 8 formed integral with the underframe. The brace angle 35 serves tosupport the middle portion of the end wall 34. The side edges of thisend wall are connected to a side wall 36, the lower end of which sidewall is bent inwardlyas at 37 to form a side sheet whose lower edge isriveted to inclined ledge 17 of the underframe (see Figure 4).

38 indicates a knee brace secured to finished faces 16 along the sidesill for supporting the side hopper sheet portion 37. The upper ends ofthe ide walls 36 are cut on an incline, as at 36 so that they may beriveted to the side edges of the curved end upper walls, thisconstruction avoiding corners an angles in which the lading may lodge.The upper edges of the side and end walls of my improved car arepreferably reinforced by means of bulb angles 40, (see Figure 4), whichangles connect at their ends with top end reinforcement angles 41, whichlatter assume the shape of the upper edges of the curved end walls 34;the horizontal flanges of the angles 40 and 41, being connected orspliced by the plate 30, at the corners of the and 2).

The doors 44, see Figures 3 and 4, are

preferably made of cast steel having hinge lugs which cooperate withpintles passing through the lugs 8 on the underframe, said lugs 8 beinglocated under the lading shed 17. The wall 45 is a bafile plate attachedto underframe to guide ore into the proper place when unloading. Beingmade of cast steel, the doors may be reinforced by longitudinallydisposed ribs 46 and transversely disposed ribs 47 on their undersides,and by a longitudinal bolster which carries the load between extensions48, thus preventing distortion of the door due to lading being droppedon it. These doors are further described and claimed in my copendingapplication, Serial No. 600,336, new Patent 1,450,615, issued September3, li f i. Each door at its swinging edge is provided with an extensibn48 forming part of the casting to which is connected the door operatingmechanism, the latter forming no part of my present invention.

In Figures 1 and 2, I have shown a type of truck peculiarly adapted tohopper bot tom ore cars of this class, said truck being similar to thatdisclosed in the patent to Pflager, No. 995,560, dated June 20th, 1911.In this type of truck, the truck side frames, indicated at 50, arepivotally connected at A to the bearing plates 21 of the cast steelunderframe and consequently when taking a curve and the truck sideframes swing from the position shown at the left in Figure 1 to thepositionshown exaggerated at the, right in said figure. Such pivoting ofthe truck side frames moves their inner ends away from the hopperportion of the underframe which extends downwardly below the tops of thetruck.

By this construction, the car is shortcoupled in having a comparativelynarrow wheel base requiring a minimum clearance movement of the truckparts relative to the underframe and its connected parts. I, therefore,prefer to use this type of truck in connection with my improved ore carinstead of a swiveling truck such as is commonly employed, because whenthe parts of the swiveling truck move in taking a curve, their radius issuch that a suflicient amount of clearance must be provided between thetruck parts and the underframe parts so as to accommodate the movementof the truck in taking the small curves of the shortest radius. In otherwords, the parts of the swiveling truck will move toward the hopper orthe door operating mechanism when the car is taking acurve, whereas withthe type of truck shown, the parts of the truck may move away'from thehopper.

What I claim is:

1. In a railway car, a cast steel underframe including integral websinclined from the vertical and curved horzontally and'providing a hopperopening between them, and

curved sheets secured to said webs and extending upwardly therefrom toform hopper walls. a

2. In a railway car, the combination of a frame downwardly beyond thebottoms of,

said sills to form the lower portions of hopper walls, andsuperstructure sheets extending upwardly from said webs to complete thehopper walls.

4. In a railway car, an underframe including spaced longitudinal sillsconverging at their ends, a truck including a side framepivoted-intermediate its ends to the converging portions of said sills,and a hopper wall extending downwardly below the top of said side frameand adjacent to but beyond the inner end of the latter.

5. In a railway car, the combination of a cast steel underframe havingintegral end walls forming a hopper opening, the end walls of whichopening are inclined and curved, end hopper sheets inclined and curvedand connected to said end walls, corner posts, top reinforcing memberson the upper edges of said end hopper sheets and connection platessecured to said posts and said members.

6. In a railway car, the combination of a cast steel underframe havingwalls forming a hopper opening, end and side hopper sheets secured tothe edges of saidwalls, knee braces, corner posts, and side postsadjacent to said corner posts, said posts providing supports for laddermembers, and ladder members attached to said posts.

7. In a railway car, an underframe, a hopper body, body corner posts,body posts spaced from said corner posts, hopper vertical side sheetsterminating short of said latter-mentioned posts, ladder rungs securedto said posts with their hand gripped portions substantially flush withthe said side sheets, the upper one of said ladder rungs being locatedadjacent to the top edge of the hopper body.

8. In a railway car, the combination of an underframe and hopper sheets,of corner posts, side'posts adjacent to said corner posts, ladder membersecured to said posts, and top corner connection plates, saidplatesbeing provided with hand openings opposite said ladder members.

9. In a railway car, the combination of an underframe having a centrallylocated hopper and sills converging at the ends of the hopper opening,downwardly opening doors for closing said hopper, and hopper partsextending below the horizontal plane of certain of the truck parts, andtruck parts including side frames pivoted on said sills, wheels andaxles, the inner extremities of said parts being adjacent to said hopperwalls and nearest said hopper when the truck is in its normal position.

10. In a railway car, the combination of an underframe having acentrally located hopper and sills converging at the ends of the hopperopening, doors for closing said hopper, centrally arranged operatingmechanism for said doors, and truckparts including truck side frames,wheels and axles, said truck side frames being pivotally connectedtosaid sills at four points spaced from the longitudinal center line ofthe car whereby when the car is on a straight track the inner wheels andtruck parts will be near the hopper and when the car is on a curvedtrack the inner wheels and truck parts will move away from the hopper.

11. In a railway car, an underframe, a hopper body having a verticalside portion, body corner posts, body posts spaced from said cornerposts, ladder rungs secured to said posts and located beyond the end ofand substantially flush with said side por- 'tion of said hopper body,the upper one of said ladder rungs being located adjacent to the topedge of the hopper and lying in substantially the same vertical plane asother ladder rungs in the same ladder.

12. In ahopper car, the combination of an underframe including a deadblock, superstructure corner posts, end posts located between saidcorner posts, a hopper end sheet, the middle upper portion of which islocated between said end posts and is nearer to the end of the car thanthe side portions between said end posts and corner posts, and laddermembers secured to said corner and the front of said dead block, theupper one of said ladder members being adjacent to the level of the topedge of said end sheet and in substantially the same vertical plane asother ladder members in the same roup. 13. In a railway car, thecombination of an underframe and hopper sheets, of corner posts, end andside posts adjacent to said corner posts, ladder members secured tosaidposts and top corner connection plates, said plates being provided withclearance recesses adjacent to top ladder members.

14. In a railway car, the combination of an underframe and hoppersheets, of corner posts, end and side posts adjacent to said cornerposts, ladder members secured to said posts, the upper ones of saidladder members being adjacent to the top edge of car and insubstantially same vertical planes as other ladder members in samegroup, and top corner connection plates,-said plates bemg provided'withclearance recesses adjacent to top ladder members.

15. Ina railway car, an underframe includinglongitudinal sills along thesides of the hopper opening and converging be ond the ends of the hopperopening, a true including side frames pivoted intermediate their ends tothe converging portions of said sills, a hopper end wall extendingdownwardly below the plane of the topsof said side frame and adjacent tothe inner ends of the latter but between the same and the middle of thecar, said wall being curved horizontally from each side adjacent to saidside frames outwardly toward the end of the car, said side frames beingpivoted intermediate their ends to said sills so that the inner ends ofsaid side frames move away from the middle of the car when'said' sideframes swing on their pivots, the radius of the side frame end movementbeing less than the radius of the hopper wall curvaure.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature this 10th day ofJuly, 1922.

WILLIAM SHEEHAN.

